The Art of Rule Breaking
by Simply Irresistible
Summary: Not everyone was spending their summer in a flower bed. While Harry was melting away on Privet Drive, Fred and George were learning the tricks of the trade from the Original Mauderer himself.
1. A Knowing Wink

None of the characters belong to me. All of it comes from the great mind of JK Rowling.  
  
Summary: Not everyone was spending their summer in a flower bed. While Harry was melting away on Privet Drive, Fred and George were learning the tricks of the trade from the Original Mauderer himself.  
  
The Art of Rule Breaking  
  
Prologue: A Knowing Wink  
  
"All right, George, on the count of three. And mind you step back this time. We wouldn't want your eyebrows on fire again."  
  
"Yeah, maybe instead of inventing trouble maybe we should invent things that protect us from fire eyebrows, --"  
  
"--- bloody noses, ---"  
  
"---grape vines growing out of your ears,---"  
  
"--- purple boils that spurt out orange pus. Yeah, reckon we should. But where's the fun in that?"  
  
"Too true, dear brother, too true. All right. One.Two.THREE!"  
  
After a large BOOM that must have caused even the foundation of the house to jump, Fred and George Weasley stepped away from the mountain of smoke coming from the small table in their dusty 3rd floor room of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. The smoke finally dissipated to reveal a pile of flesh- colored string.  
  
"Well," began George as he began to approach the table again, "Seeing as though they didn't melt this time, I'm guessing it worked."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"I said seeing as though---"  
  
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"  
  
"Oh, dear."  
  
George was startled by a knock on the door, shortly followed by the petite frame of their young sister. "I heard the explosion, or rather felt it. Did you get it to work this time?" She asked as she closed the door.  
  
"I don't know for sure yet. Haven't tried it. It left Fred here out of hearing for a while though."  
  
"Oh no! Is he going to get it back?" She asked worriedly as she physically examined Fred's ear.  
  
"Nah, it should be back within a week. Since our poor brother is temporarily disabled, will you do me the honor of testing them out with me?"  
  
"Why I'd love to, George. But there's no meeting tonight."  
  
"Yes, I know that. That's why we're testing it out now, so we can use it before the next meeting. We've already missed three of them. Instead why don't we see what Ickle Ronnikins is up to? Bring this end down to his room."  
  
"I SAY WE TEST THEM OUT ON RON DOWNSTAIRS. WE CAN----"  
  
"Oy! Shut up, you're too loud. Silencio!"  
  
But Fred's lips didn't stop moving. Apparently he didn't know he was put under the Silencing Charm. Not that he could hear himself talk anyway.  
  
"Thank Merlin, for finally being overage," George muttered to himself. "How we managed to live without using magic at home or apparating all those years is beyond me."  
  
"The Extendable ears are in place," said Ginny as she came through the door and towards George.  
  
"Good, now insert this end into you ear and listen."  
  
It took a couple seconds for any sound to come through and then finally.  
  
"Hello, Hermione.no, lower.hello, Hermione. How was your summer? Did you enjoy the book I sent you?.No, bugger! That's no good!.Ok, try again, Ron.Hello, Hermione. How was your summer?"  
  
Snickering, George and Ginny listened to about five different renditions of Ron's reunion with Hermione. Each time slightly lower and with a different pace.  
  
"Why does he even bother when he knows he's going to sound like more like Quirrel talking to Snape than Romeo to Juliet?" George asked Ginny while Fred enviously looked on, still trying to talk. George gave him thumbs up to indicate that the Extendable Ears were working, to which Fred smiled in relief.  
  
"I expect he'll have plenty of time to practice his Don Juan routine when Hermoine comes tomorrow. She'll probably spend the entire summer with us here," Ginny noted.  
  
"Well, I'm sure you're glad you won't have to spend your nights alone in that room anymore."  
  
"Tell me about it. This morning the wardrobe tried to suck me in!"  
  
"Oooh, that's scary. The worse Fred and I've got is a doorknob that hisses at you. Maybe we should get Harry to tell it to shut up. Oh, well. At least we don't have a blank portrait that laughs at you at night, like the one in Ron's room. But what can you do. It looks like we're stuck here all summer."  
  
The Weasley children (Percy excluded) along with their parents have been trapped inside Number Twelve, Grimmuald Place for over a week already, cleaning rooms, dodging a crazy old house-elf, tip-toeing around a life- size portrait of old Mrs. Black, all while being deprived of any juicy information. If anyone had ever told the Gryffindor Weasleys that they would be living in what Ron Weasley described as "more Slytherin that the Slytherin Common Room" and that it was owned by Azkaban-escapee Sirius Black, AND that it was to be the headquarters of the Order of Pheonix, they would have reserved you a room at St. Mungo's next to Lockhart.  
  
Yet this dark, dirty, and neglected house was center for fight against You- Know-Who. They day the Weasleys moved in was one of the most memorable days for the twins yet.  
  
(10 days earlier) Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny were all in their respective room in the Burrow, doing their own thing in order to forget the fight last night between their father and Percy. Ginny was writing a letter while an unknown owl waited impatiently to return her reply to its master. Ron was reading a Quiddich magazine (and ripping out any pictures or articles about Victor Krum). Fred and George were trying to remedy their high-pitched voice (a completely unforeseen side-effect of the Nosebleed Nougat), when their mother barged into their rooms and told them to pack up their trunks for the summer and be ready by 5 o'clock. Before they could ask any questions, their mother was already on her way up to Ron's room, presumably to tell him to do the same.  
  
At 4:45, the twins (still sounding like Professor Flitwick) along with Ron and Ginny were downstairs, when all of a sudden they heard a loud crack. Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of them.  
  
After the initial shock, Fred finally spoke up. "Professor Dumbledore," he squeaked, "What's going on?"  
  
"All will be explained in due time, Mr. Weasley, all in due time."  
  
"Oh good, you're here Albus." Said Mrs. Weasley as her and Mr. Weasley's trunk floated behind her. "Do excuse Fred and George. They've been dueling with each other ever since they came of age. I don't know what I'm going to do with you two. Apparating and jinxing each other left and right!"  
  
"Not at all, Molly," said Dumbledore with a smile toward the twins. "After all, it may have been a few years, but I still remember what it was like to finally exercise fully my magical rights."  
  
A few years?!? More like a few decades.  
  
"Well," replied Mrs. Weasley with scolding look at the twins, "I wish they wouldn't exercise it so often! Anyway, Albus, we are ready."  
  
"Yes, of course. Now children," said Dumbledore, turning toward them, "what I am about to tell you is of strict importance and extreme secrecy. Tell no one where you are going, who and what you will see, and be mindful of what you say in your owls. That includes you, Ronald," turning to him, "and your correspondence with Mr. Potter. You must promise me that you will not tell him anything."  
  
"Alright," said Ron slowly.  
  
"Remember Mr. Weasley, it is very important to not give any details to Mr. Potter at this time at all. Now then, all you of. Listen very carefully and memorize what I'm going to say." He glanced around the room, bent low, and said: "The headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."  
  
"What's the---"  
  
"Not now, Miss Weasley. It will be explained to you when we get there."  
  
"Alright," said Mrs. Weasley, as she held out the tin of Floo Powder, "Ginny, you first."  
  
Fred went in next, followed shortly by George. What they found was a large dark and old kitchen that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Glancing around the room, the twins spotted heavy iron pans hanging around the ceiling and a large wooden table in the center. Already there was their father, their brother Bill (who had recently moved back for a desk job at Gringotts), a pleasant looking young woman with electric blue hair, Professor Lupin, and ---blimey! Is that---  
  
"SIRIUS BLACK!" Ginny screamed.  
  
Everyone at the table grinned, while Black himself gave them a good-natured smirk. But before they could say anything, Ron and his trunk crashed into the twins and Ginny as they stood in front of the fireplace, frozen in shock at the sight before them.  
  
Fred looked up from the floor and scowled at Bill who was trying unsuccessfully to contain his laughter. Now if there was anything more shocking than the sight of their father and brother sharing a table the with a mass murderer, it was the sight of their youngest brother walking toward them completely unfazed by the group of people in front of him.  
  
"Dad, Bill," Ron began, walking toward them, "I was wondering where you two went off too. Professor Lupin! How are you? Sirius," addressing the convict and shaking his hand, "Harry'll be glad to see you. So where's this 'old crowd' Dumbledore was talking about. I'm assuming that's the Order of the Phoenix? I'm sorry," he said, turning to the woman with blue hair, "We haven't met. I'm Ron Weasley."  
  
"Pleasure, Ron. I'm Tonks." She said jovially with a large smile on her face. "I've heard much about you."  
  
"S-s-sirius Black? Shouldn't you be in Azkaban?" George managed to sputter.  
  
"Come now, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "Is that any way to greet your host?" He and Molly had slipped in unnoticed while Ron greeted and the twins and Ginny gaped.  
  
"This is your house, Sirius?" Ron asked, for the first time today shocked. "Are you sure?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he spotted a serpent candleholder in the center of the table.  
  
"Unfortunately," muttered Sirius, quite bitterly.  
  
"Have a seat, all of you. I believe explanations are in order." Said Dumbledore.  
  
"Allow me," said Ron, as they all were seated. "Remember Scabbers?" He said "Scabbers" as if it were the most disgusting word in the world.  
  
The twins looked at each other, wondering where this conversation could possibly go. They listen as their younger brother along with Lupin and Sirius, detailed to them how Sirius, Harry's father, and Peter Pettigrew became animagi, how they would sneak out every month to accompany Lupin for his monthly transformations, how Peter became the Potter's secret keeper and how he framed Sirius. Then Ron went into this rather drawn out narrative of how he, Harry, and Hermione played out their third year and discovered the truth. He up-played his own role in the story significantly and unconsciously praised Hermione while Sirius and Lupin rolled their eyes and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny exchanged knowing glances. Ron remained oblivious to all this as he babbled on.  
  
".and so the lot of us left the Shrieking Shack. Me and Professor Lupin chained to that Scumbag and Sirius dragging Snape along. As soon as we got out the clouds parted and showed the moon and that's where Professor over here transformed again. You see, Snape forgot to give him his wolfbane potion. So here I was chained to a werewolf and a Death Eater who had just turned back into a rat. And despite my severely broken leg, I chased after Scabbers, which was really hard to do since my leg was broken and all, but I used all my might to go."  
  
"Ron, get on with it," said his father, impatiently.  
  
"Right, so anyway. Harry tried to fight off the hundred dementors, but all he could manage was some silver stuff. But across the lake he saw someone send off a patronus, he thought it was his dad. Later, he and Hermione woke up in the hospital wing and Dumbledore tipped Hermione off to use her time turner. Man, was she fantastic! Did you know she's been using it all year? It was quite amazing how she took all these classes and used the time turner so that she wouldn't miss anything. Harry and I thought she was completely nutters."  
  
Ron continued to babble on for a few more minutes, being prompted numerous times by everyone to get on with the story. By the time he finished, Ginny and the twins were fairly awe-struck. Ginny was thoroughly impressed by how Sirius managed to escape again, while the twins still couldn't get over how many rules Sirius, Remus, James and Peter broke. Hogwart's current mischief- makers have finally met their match.  
  
Fred was suddenly struck with a bright idea. He glanced over to his brother who seemed to have read his mind and grinned. Unfortunately, Molly Weasley seemed to have read Fred's mind as well, and before they could even think another thought:  
  
"I wouldn't do it boys!" Molly cut in sharply, "Not with the O.W.L. you got in Transfiguration! Knowing you two, you'd probably permanently turn your left leg into a monkey's arm. "  
  
The twins looked down on the table quite embarrassed and with their hope squashed.  
  
"Wait, a minute," said Ginny, finally speaking up. "How did you manage to sneak out all those times without getting caught?"  
  
"You know that's a fair question," George added, "We wouldn't have survived Filch and Mrs. Norris half those times without the Mauderer's Map."  
  
"What's the Mauderer's Map?" asked Ginny innocently.  
  
"Wait," interrupted Sirius, "How do you two know about the map?"  
  
"How do you know about the map?" Fred shot back.  
  
"Easy," Sirius said casually, sitting back in his chair, "We," indicating himself and Remus, "invented it."  
  
It finally dawned on the twins and they exclaimed simultaneously, "YOU'RE MR. PADFOOT!"  
  
"At you service," he acknowledged, with a slight bow of his head. "And this here is Moony."  
  
"Oh wow," began Fred, flabbergasted. "You have no idea what an honor it is."  
  
"Yeah, if it weren't for you blokes, me and Fred wouldn't be half of the pranksters we are now. You're our role model, hands downs. There was this one ti---"  
  
George slowly broke off, finally noticing that they were revealing their trouble making secrets in front of their parents and headmaster. Their mother was scowling at them, while Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling at them.  
  
"Incidentally," Dumbledore spoke up, "Where is this map?"  
  
"Uh, Harry lost it when Professor Moo-I mean Crouch confiscated it from him." Ron added quickly, his ears turning pink. He didn't mention that it somehow found its way back to Harry and was buried somewhere in his trunk in Privet drive along with James' old cloak. The last thing needed was for the map to be confiscated again by the headmaster or his parents. Merlin knows they'll definitely need it this year.  
  
That seemed to satisfy Mrs. Weasley. Dumbledore, however, raised an eyebrow at the young man. Ron immediately became very interested with the edge of the table.  
  
The looks on the twin's faces clearly showed that they wanted to know more. As if reading their minds, Sirius gave them a knowing wink that clearly showed that they would be exchanging stories later.  
  
And with that wink began what would be Fred and George's Weasley's best summer (and considering they are Fred and George, that's saying something).  
  
A/N: I hope you like it so far. The rest of the story will be about the various pranks and adventures of both the Mauderer's and Fred and George. It should be fun! I think I need to make it funnier. Give me ideas. 


	2. A Map to Remember

The Weasley children anticipated much excitement this summer. After all, they would be living in the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Ginny and the twins felt honored to finally be privy to the secrets that Ron has known for years. And being brave Griffyndors, they all wanted to take part in the workings of the Order. 

"It would be a honor to serve the Great Order of the Phoenix," declared Fred as he stood from his seat at the table after the adults had told the children what little they could about the Order. 

And serve the order they did.

By cleaning. 

Their Only Mission: Make Headquarters Livable.

Their first night at Headquarters was a clear indication of what they would spend their entire summer doing. Upon entering their respective bedrooms, each person was enveloped in a fit of coughs. When the dust finally began to settle and they were able to see the room, it was clear that it would be a few hours before they would be able to sleep.

Thankfully the twins had just come of age and they were able to do preliminary cleaning of their bedroom within seconds. With some well-chosen charms the old bedspreads were washed and dried, the walls and floor were scourgified, and the creatures under the bed were banished outside. It wasn't completely clean; and it would be a few days (and four explosions) for the old murky smell to finally disappear. 

After three days of cleaning Number Twelve, the Weasley children became resigned to the fact that their only purpose for the Order was to become maids. They quickly got bored. Freeing the Black House from the many pests that have accumulated over the past decade became much like degnoming the garden. 

The work wasn't completely useless. The household pests soon became the inspiration for many of Fred and George's inventions. Since Harry had donated his funds to them, the twins worked tirelessly inventing more gags that proved more lethal than canary crèmes or anything they have made before. 

But their main inspiration for the inventions didn't come from the creatures that lurked inside the toilets, but instead from Fred and George's now unmasked hero---Sirius Black.

On the second day of their stay at Grimmauld Place, the twins told Sirius of their aspirations to rival Zonko's as the premier magical joke shop. They asked the master himself if he had any ideas.

"Hmm, well," Sirius began thoughtfully, "It was hard to cause trouble while in class in front of the teacher. But class time was ideal for some serious pranking. Think about it, the halls are empty, the teachers are preoccupied. You could get a lot done. If you can create something to help you skivvy off from class then you could do some serious damage without anyone knowing. 

The light bulb for the Skiving Snackboxes officially turned on. 

Pocketing that idea in the back of their minds, the twins then asked Sirius what they've been dying to ask him about since the night before. 

"Sirius, how exactly did you four go about making the Mauderer's Map?"

*******(22 years, 4 months, and 12 days ago)*******

"Wormtail, would you mind putting something on your feet. I can smell it from all the way over here and besides the sight of your big toe protruding from that hole isn't pleasing to the eye either," said James Potter as he sneered at Peter Pettigrew's feet that were propped on the table. 

"I haven't got any shoes since you made me leave them in the corridor," Peter replied with a sneer of his own.

"Sorry if I thought saving our skins was more important than saving your shoes," said James sarcastically.

It was late on a Tuesday night and James Potter and his friends Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin were on their way back from one of the unused classrooms on the 3rd floor where they were working on becoming animagi. The trek from the 3rd floor all the way to the 7th floor went without a hitch, until the four got into the corridor leading towards the Fat Lady. 

Argus Filch noticed that something was amiss immediately when his familiar beckoned his call. Mrs. Norris led him directly to the 7th floor through one of their secret passages. What he saw when he arrived on the 7th floor made him smile. In the hall in front of him were two shoes, seemingly independent of legs, walking directly toward the Griffyndor Tower entrance. Filch knew whom they belonged to. He had often wiped their scuffmarks from the floor. Those shoes belonged to the small and round 4th year that squeaked when he talked. Or was it the smart and sometimes ill blonde boy? Either way, it belonged to one of the four boys who made Filch desperately want to return to the days when whipping was an acceptable punishment. Those boys had managed to escape punishment far to easily lately. But not this time, Filch had caught them in the act.

He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot saying, "I wonder where a pair of feetless shoes are off to?"

As soon as he spoke the shoes stopped dead in their track. Filch waited for the boys to remove Potter's invisibility cloak from over their heads, but they didn't. Instead, Filch heard a series of whispers, including: "Take off your shoes, hurry!"

Before they could escape, Filch hurriedly limped toward the shoes and picked them up. When he noticed that the shoes were empty, he instantly used the other hand not holding the shoes to feel the walls and he perked his ears hopping to hear where they were. No such luck. Filch spent almost a half on hour before picking up his cat and muttering, "Don't worry my sweet, we'll catch them next time, and they'll really pay!"

As soon as they could hear Filch's footsteps disappear, four teenage boys fell down from above. As soon as he heard Filch's voice James ordered Peter to take off his shoes and Sirius promptly levitated himself and his three friends up toward the ceiling. Now where the empty shoes once stood was a heap of Griffyndors, sore from a good fall. 

"Did you have to let us fall so fast?" asked Remus, rubbing his head.

"Sorry, couldn't hold the spell any longer," said Sirius, getting up and smoothing his robes. "I wish we could've seen Filch coming sooner. It would have saved us a lot of pain."

"What I want to know is how he got here from his office so fast. He must know some secret passage," said James thoughtfully, snatching up the Invisibility cloak and heading toward the Fat Lady who was snoring in her sleep. 

"Yeah, some secret passage that we have yet to find," said Peter, trailing behind him.

"I'll bet my house-elf he's got some map or something made by the founders. Unicorn Tail," said Sirius to the Fat Lady as she lazily opened up for them without saying anything. The four of them snuck out so often that it was hopeless for her to lecture them.

"You know," said James, plopping down on the couch in front of the fire, "It might be worth it to venture into his office to find this map."

"Yeah," said Remus, "And then we can charm it to show us where Filch is at, so we can steer clear of him."

"Let's not stop at Filch," said Peter, "I don't fancy getting caught by McGonagall either."

"We can make to show us the whereabouts of everyone in the castle!" Exclaimed Sirius loudly, a little too loudly.

The next day, the foursome divided in two. Remus and James set off toward Filch's office, while Sirius and Peter went to the dungeons to set off some dungbombs and lure Filch and Mrs. Norris away from his office. While the prank itself was quite funny (The dungeons stunk for days and to the delight of the Mauderer's and the dismay of Snape, managed to explode right in front of Snape on his way to the Slytherin Common Room), the venture was not successful. Remus and James went through every drawer and every cabinet, but only managed to find Peter's shoes and a collection of useful "items" in a drawer marked _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous_. 

The four we're now in their dormitory, quite disappointed with not finding a map. Sirius was lying on his bed, when he suddenly got up. "You know we don't really need that map. We've been sneaking around this school long enough to know most of it already. We've already figured out four of the passages into Hogsmeade!"

"Filch is bound to know more than us though. He's been making students' lives miserable longer than we've been sneaking around," said Remus resentfully from his own bed.

"Well," said James, sitting up, also getting excited. "He may not have a map, but I'll be he knows all the passages by heart."

"And what are we supposed to do, James, just ask him nicely over a cup of tea?" asked Remus sarcastically.

"Not over tea, but over a nice, pleasant dose of Veritaserum." 

"I don't fancy breaking into the Professor Lexing's potions cabinet again. That rash I got from spilling one of those purple vials wouldn't go away for weeks!" Said Peter. 

The next day, James busted into Professor Lexing's potions cabinet while everyone was at dinner and rushed back to his friends in the Great Hall. He subtlety passed on the vial to Sirius under the Invisibility cloak who made his way to Filch's place at the Head table toward the end of dinner. He emptied the vial without a hitch and returned back to the Griffyndor table. 

The four of them followed Filch into his office, shut the door, and made him promptly tell them all of the secret passages he knew. Some the boys knew, and some they didn't. When they were finished, Sirius hit Filch with a Memory charm and the four of them made their way up to the dormitory. 

Remus had already begun making the map, using what they did know. Sirius and James used their charms (their manly charms, not their magical ones) to get the girls from other houses to describe where and what their common rooms looked like. Those too were depicted in the map. Sirius took the liberty to enchant the parchment so that it only reveals itself to students with the intention of rule breaking. That charm had the rather amusing side effect of taking on the personalities of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. All that was left was Filch's information.

After adding Filch's information, the piece of parchment that was affectionately christened "The Mauderer's Map" was ready for its final charm: the charm to show everyone's whereabouts. This bit proved to be the most difficult aspect of its making. While all of them were quite brilliant (well, all except Peter), none had enough knowledge about charms to know how to do this. As the four approached this minor glitch in the plan, James quickly (a little too quickly) volunteered himself to ask Lily Evans, the charms master of the 4th year. Unfortunately, Lily saw right through James and knew he was up to something. Lily, of course, adamantly refused. She very well couldn't become prefect next year if she was caught aiding James Potter on one of his pranks.

Instead the boys found themselves in the one room of the castle in which they would never haunt: the library. The four boys spent four hours going through charm books, trying to find the perfect spell. At last, in _A Charming Spell_, Remus found the answer to their silent prayers. They quickly returned all the books to the shelves and proceeded to their room to add the final touches to the map. 

When they were finished, the boys allowed themselves a few moments to wallow in their success as they watch little tiny-labeled dots wander around the castle. 

*******(Present)*******

"At the end of our seventh year, I considered taking it home with me. We worked so hard on it and it was a wrench leaving without it. But then I overheard a couple of first years plan a hex on one of the Slytherins and I'm not ashamed to admit that it made me a bit nostalgic. We left the map with them. It would have been no use to me in outside world, but it could continue to do a lot of damage at Hogwarts. And obviously it has with you two."

"Yes," said George in total agreement. "It wasn't easy for us to part with it either. But it served a greater good in the hands of Harry Potter. Did you hear how Snape almost confiscated it and it insulted him when he tried to reveal it?"

Laughing, Sirius replied, "Oh yes, Remus told me how Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs each took a swing at the slime ball. How you kids manage to sit through one of his classes is a miracle to me."

"Tell me about it," said the twins in unison.

"So how did you two come across it anyway?"

Fred and George exchanged grins. This was going to be a fun story to tell.


End file.
